R58m Lotto winner says she's ready for early retirement

Cape Town -
A Cape Town woman is R58 million richer after winning the Lotto jackpot on Saturday.

The 56-year-old woman said she was a regular PowerBall player but seldom played the Lotto. However, the large prize pot encouraged her to play.

“After seeing the estimated jackpot prize, I started daydreaming about how this could change my life and make it even better. On Saturday, my husband and I decided to go out for dinner. On our way to the restaurant, I insisted to my husband that we stop at a retail store where I could play the Lotto, which I did. I put my ticket away quickly after playing and forgot about it for the evening” said the lucky winner.

The woman says she saw on the National lottery website that the jackpot had been won by one person and was on her way to a Mother's Day celebration with her family when she decided to check her ticket at a nearby retail store.

“When I inserted my ticket in the machine to check if I had won anything, the machine issued a little slip with a note that read: ‘Please contact the National Lottery head office.’ I went to the cashiers to ask them if they could give me more details, and they suggested that I go to the Post Office."

The woman says left the store to attend the family gathering where she asked her son to check her ticket. He confirmed that her ticket matched the winning numbers and advised her to write her details, including her identity number, on the back of the ticket.

"My body just went numb, I was in total disbelief. All I could do was drink my gin!"

South Africa's newest multimillionaire says she will continue to work for the next six months or so in order to ensure a smooth handover to her successor.

"This will also give me enough time to carefully think about how I will spend my money. Ideally, I would like to invest 90% of my winnings and live off of my investments for the rest of my life. I’m grateful that I got my early retirement,” she said.